Simon Cowell sued by American Idol’s Simon Fuller over X Factor USA

Just as
Simon Cowell was shaking off the controversy of
replacing Cheryl Cole with Nicole Scherzinger on the X Factor USA judging panel,
Simon Fuller has come back for more legal fun with the music mogul.

Simon Cowell (Picture: PA)

Simon Fuller (Picture: PA)

It has emerged that Fuller has filed a legal complaint against the network and production company behind The X Factor USA , claiming that it is a copy of American Idol.

His argument is that Cowell agreed to credit him as an executive producer on The X Factor in America after the two waged a legal battle about the UK version of the show back in 2005.

Then, Fuller claimed that Cowell had copied the American Idol format for the new talent series, which has enjoyed unprecedented success in the UK and numerous other countries.

After agreeing to settle out of court, Fuller was rewarded with an executive producer credit on The X Factor , as well as ten percent of the show’s earnings and the agreement that Cowell couldn’t launch The X Factor in America for five years.

Fuller’s publicist confirmed to Deadline that he had filed a complaint against Fox and FremantleMedia over: ‘their refusal to honor a 2005 contract that granted Mr Fuller an executive producer credit and fees on the X Factor television program in the U.S.

‘Mr. Fuller has prudently attempted to settle this matter privately but the other parties have refused to honor the original contract leaving him no other choice but to pursue legal action.”Fox and Fremantle made hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the creative efforts of Fuller.’

Fox and Fremantle issued their own rebuttal of the claim, stating: ‘We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we expect to prevail.’